Patek Philippe Calatrava 2555J

$17,500

An early waterproof time-only Calatrava, the reference 2555 pairs the Taubert & Fils case architecture with Patek Philippe's timeless aesthetic.

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This is the Patek Philippe Calatrava reference 2555J. Founded in 1839, Patek Philippe is a name synonymous with high horology. A company that has always been privately owned, Patek has been manufacturing watches for almost two centuries without interruption. The company is currently owned by the Stern family, whose heritage dates to when they were supplying dials to Patek in the 1920s. Incidentally, the Calatrava was also the first model released by the Stern family as the staple time-only watch in the brand’s collection.

To understand the Calatrava, one must revisit the roots of the model with the reference 96. The first Calatrava was also the debut of the brand’s first in-house caliber, the cal. 920. Produced over a 40-year span, the 96 would set the foundations of all future Calatravas. Dimunitive, minimalist and dressy, these characteristics would go on to define the future references within the line as the brand’s flagship dress piece. The reference 570 was released during the same period as the 96 with a larger case size, though the smaller case size was more favourable during that period. The success of the early Calatravas laid the foundations of the brand's iconic dress watch, giving birth to later references such as the aforementioned 2555.

Introduced in the early 1950s, the reference 2555 represents a fascinating step in the evolution of the Calatrava. Combining classic Calatrava elegance with functional engineering, the reference features a Taubert & Fils waterproof case and was among the earliest time-only Calatravas to feature a screwdown caseback. Unlike the traditional small seconds layout of its predecessors, the 2555 also set itself apart with its central sweep seconds. Powered by the manual-wind Cal. 27SC that was used by other important references such as the 570 and the 2508, this robust movement was produced for two decades before the introduction of the Cal. 215.

A reference that often flies under the radar, the 2555 is representative of an important period in the brand's history - the marriage of design purity and functional engineering.